Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon (3) makes a no-look pass against UMKC Friday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
After-thoughts from Iowa’s 89-57 victory over UMKC:
–Although we all suspected Keegan Murray was going to be the best player on the Iowa basketball team this season, some of us wondered if he had what it took to step up and be really a big-time scorer. Those doubts have disappeared. Murray is showing signs of possibly being a candidate for the Big Ten scoring title. Two games into the season, he has scored 49 points in just 37 minutes of playing time and he’s doing it in different ways. A lot of his points are coming in transition but he also has been very effective taking the ball to the basket in halfcourt situations and he has shown improvement in his ability to score from the perimeter. He often scores in bunches, collecting 17 of his 25 points Friday in a span of little more than seven minutes early in the second half.
–North Dakota transfer Filip Rebraca is not scoring quite as much as we expected but he is a very solid, steady player who is going to help the Hawkeyes win games. He finished with 9 points and 13 rebounds Friday and was unquestionably the defensive player of the game. There may be games in which he is called upon to score more but it looks as though he will be no better than the No. 4 option behind Murray, Patrick McCaffery and Jordan Bohannon.
–It seemed as though the Hawkeyes must have had about a dozen dunks in the game but they actually only had five. Two were especially spectacular. Patrick McCaffery drove to the hoop and rose above everyone to slam one down in the first half. And during a decisive 15-0 scoring run in the second half, Murray grabbed a loose ball at one end of the floor and drove the length of the court to throw one down.
